a critical issue in DSP element in call handler has been fixed (this element performs analysis of the audio stream to detect FAS);

fixes in termination controller;

performance optimization by MySQL caching usage;

added possibility to connect to the system using AMI protocol (Asterisk Management Interface).

This allow to integrate existing web-interfaces and applications for Asterisk with the system;

fail2ban has been added to distribution.

This application allows to automatically block through the firewall system intruders, which try to break in the system by SIP login and password brute force;

added experimental splash controller.

This controller detects sudden traffic splashes and informs about the latter system's administrator.This functionality might by handy for your customers, for preventing the cases when your client has been hacked and used for sending huge amount of call traffic.

RADIUS support has been enhanced;

termination controller has been added to gateways.

Before this it was available for terminators only.

Info element from call handler now sets ${EMAIL} variable, which can be used further in call handling logic, for example for sending fax as email attachment.

changes in the logic of balance controller.

When the company's balance goes below threshold value, the alarm email is sent only once. Furthermore email is sent in case if balance went above the threshold, and then went below again.

Fixed various issues in web GUI, that have been caused by preparation for GUI core framework update;

Added support for Cloning for all GUI elements.

So now when creating similar entities (for example, peers) you can copy some entity just supplying new name and don't have to copy all attributes by hand;

New Smartswitch release: 6.4

2012-01-05 16:39:25

We are glad to announce a new release of Smartswitch.
This is a result of our work for the past year. Over 4000 revisions during 1 year!
In this release you may find new features along with bugfixes.
As usual, we present a short list of changes:

a support for T.38 faxes in H.323 driver.

Also it's possible to pass through T.38 fax in a call with protocol conversion SIPH.323.This feature is absent in standard Asterisk;

added a new driver - OH323.

This driver supports H.323 protocol, but unlike the present H323 driver it uses H.323 software stack from ObjectiveSystems. Thus we give to you a choice between 2 stacks - OpenH323 (default) and ObjectiveSystems. This gives advantages in compatibility when interconnecting with different equipment using H.323 protocol.

added support of DAHDI ("Digium Asterisk Hardware Device Interface").

This enables us to attach to Smartswitch telephony extension cards, for example PRI or SS7 and gain access to corresponding networks.
This functionality works together with standard billing of Smartswitch just as already supported SIP/H.323 channels.

various fixes in hangup cause conversion when the call is made in SIPH.323 mode;

optimization of displaying of active channels in web GUI.

Before this chamge a VoIP core has been polled diectly to get active channels list.
When having significant count of managers, that monitor active calls , the load of VoIP core increased as well. This lead to delays in serving inbound calls.
In new implementation active calls are replicated in dedicated in-memory database once a second, and polling of active calls is performed using this replicated database.

optimized work with transactions.

Decreased count of mutual locks when performing different operations (refills, subscribers creation and so on).

added possibility to choose a second rounding mode.

This is needed mainly for compatibility with different billing systems, which can round second differently;

a transfer to a ICE protocol has been made in whole internal achitecture.

We declined to use XML-RPC anymore.
Also ICE is used for API for third party applications.A list of API interfaces along with examples is available here here.
All previously available XML-RPC interfaces have been transferred to ICE.

A versions of base operating system has been updated to FreeBSD 7.4. The versions of packages have been updated as well;

a new features for clustering and load balancing using SIP message "301 Moved Temporary" have been added;

a new feature of direct RTP setup for H323 channel has been added;

a transition to MeetMe application instead of Conference has been made for conferences.

MeetMe has been chosen as more functional and stable variant.

a new mode for SIP subscribers has been added.

Before this change activated SIP subscribers have been loaded in RAM from the database when the configuration has been changed.
When there is a significant amount of subscribers (hundreds of thousands), this leads to RAM starvation.
In new SIP mode subscribers are stored in database on the hard disk drive and are loaded in RAM on necessity (for example, when handling INVITE).
New mode is more CPU-intensive.Therefore it should be chosen when total SIP subscribers count is more than 1000. In other case it's not effective.
There is a choice between old mode of SIP subscribers handling and a new one per use group or even per single user.

Gateway combines in it a functionality of originator and terminator, therefore it can send and receive calls;

a new feature of defining new arbitrary GUI locales and translations for it has been added.

Administrator can use GUI to translate GUI to its own native language;

voice prompts have been translated from .wav to all available formats and have been added to distridution.

This way we eliminate codec translation in real-time when playing audio prompts.
Therefore we decrease CPU load and enhance the quality of voice playback;

A logic of hunting has been changed.

From now on we use the indicator of opened voice channel together with hangup cause to make a decision of continuation of hunting.

an import/export of replace patterns from/to file has been added;

a new possibility to add destination code report to invoice when auto-generating the latter has been added;

a new option has been added for terminators: interval between calls.

This options control time interval which will be considered by the system when making outbound calls to this terminator;

a new indicator of a subscriber who make a refill has been added to refill voucher;

Previously refill voucher has just been deleted, so there was no mean to see who refilled using this voucher.

a grouping of Code Report and Prefit Report has been enhanced;

a new feature of per-destination code routing has been added;

a new feature of profit report per agent has been added.

This will allow to estimate the effectiveness of a particular agent;

added new feature of subscribers auto-generation with consecutive or random numbering and naming;

subscribers generation options have been gathered into profiles;

added feature of white labeling.

You can re-define the vendor label and sell product as your own;

add feature of configuration of the rules of time, currency, etc saying in the IVR for any arbitrary language;

add hangup initiator indicator to CDR;

added refill feature for companies;

routes have been pulled into distinct entity - route classes. This enables you to use some already configured routing settings for some subset of peers;

fixes for H.323 protocol;

consumption profiles are in the billing core from now on. This means that it has been integrated into all reports and billing features, and therefore you don't need to configure it separately in Call Handler anymore;

add new Profit Report.

It allows you to estimate the profit on your destinations for making routing or business decisions;

added IP ACL for H323/SIP originators.

It allows to authorize whole IP networks or sub-networks as single originator.

added feature of CDR auto-comparison.

It may be used for solving disputes with clients/providers.

Integration with Captura Billing

2011-02-07 14:57:01

A telephony core of Smartswitch has been successfully integrated with Captura Billing (a product of Oculeus).

Smartswitch is directly connected to Captura Billing via database. CDRs that are generated by Smartswitch are handled by Captura Billing. Prices and routing that are configured in Captura Billing are reflected in Smartswitch. Therefore in this bundle Smartswitch is used purely as telephony and routing engine and Captura Billing is used for billing purposes.

Smartswitch is ready to be linked with Captura Billing for new installations.

The Captura System comprises of a full featured wholesale billing system which can be used for billing and for reconciliation purposes.

The Captura Wholesale Billing System as part of the whole Captura provides the mean to generate invoices for customers and to verify invoices provided by suppliers.

Invoices can be done manually, scheduled, exported and if required sent via e-mail. Invoices can be generated for all destinations or for some destinations of customers for given periods. They can be generated manually or scheduled together with the CDRs printed, exported and e-mailed.

Working in virtual real time the Captura Billing module is ideal for checking invoices both supplier and customer, quickly resolving billing disputes, reconciliation and revenue assurance.

For more information, please see a 3rd Party section with a list of products that have been linked with Smartswitch.

Smartswitch, 64-bit

2010-10-15 09:30:23

From now on Smartswitch is available in native format for 64-bit platforms.

This allows to overcome restrictions of 32-bit mode of operation:

each process can access 4G of RAM maximum (because of 32-bit address space);

whole OS can use up to 4G of RAM (even in case if 8G are installed). The only workaround is to use PAE (Physical Address Extension) mode. But this mode in turn puts other restrictions - not all drivers can be used and kernel has to be built monolithic (no modules).